Retail onion prices soar to double of wholesale rates Sidhartha & Dipak Kumar Dash,TN

[prasad1]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

Retail onion prices soar to double of wholesale rates Sidhartha & Dipak Kumar Dash,TN

The large difference between wholesale and retail prices of onions in markets such as Delhi, Indore, Chandigarh and Mumbai has taken the government by surprise despite several steps announced by it, including an advisory to states to crack down on hoarding and speculation.


Data available with the government showed that last week, the key kitchen ingredient was available for Rs 12.75 a kg in the wholesale market in Delhi. But the retail price was Rs 24, nearly twice the level. "It is quite surprising that the price doubles from the time it leaves Azadpur mandi. Middlemen seem to be charging a huge premium," said an official.


In fact, official data showed that Delhi is seeing unusually price behaviour, although there is pressure in other markets such as Mumbai too, where the difference is a little under Rs 10 a kg. But in Kolkata, the difference between the wholesale and retail price is Rs 5 with households getting onions for Rs 24 a kg, the same as Delhi. Similarly, in Agra the difference is Rs 3 a kg, while in Hyderabad and Bangalore the gap is just Rs 2 a kg.
Retail onion prices soar to double of wholesale rates - The Times of India

 

[krish44]

there is a huge onion cartel that sets the onion prices
politicians cannot take them on.
the importance of onions is known to the poor who have to consume their roti with it along with watery dal.
There is no difference between congress and BJP as far as governance is concerned
their basic policies are the same . they are unlikely to be pro poor
unless a new party emerges with a different mindset , the vulnerable sections of society like the poor , women , senior citizens are likely to have a bad time.

 

[prasad1]

Concerned over the rise in prices of food items, the Centre on Monday swung into action with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking stock of the situation and the states being told to take urgent measures against hoarding and ensure "uninterrupted" flow of supplies.


The Centre has also called a meeting of state food and consumer affairs ministers to discuss measures to contain inflation, that rose to 6.01 per cent in May.


The meeting, to be chaired by finance minister Arun Jaitley, will discuss among other things implementation of the National Food Security Act.


As the prices continued to rise, the Prime Minister took stock of the situation and directed consumer affairs secretary Keshav Desiraju to write to chief secretaries of all states to take corrective steps, official sources said.